Fence.



E. F. BARNES.

FENCE.

APPLICATION FILED AUG-5, 1916.

Patented Dec. 25,1917.

EMMA FRANCES BARNES, OF SOMEBVILLE, NEW JERSEY.

FENCE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 25, 191'?.l

Application filed August 5, 1916. Serial No. 113,348.1

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, EMMA FRANCES BARNES, a citizen of the United States, and resident of Somerville, county of Somerset, and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Fences, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to fences and its object is to produce a rigid substantial fence structure in which Vthe upper wires are securely fastened to the posts and the parts between the posts are tensioned and may be drawn tigher when they become loose.

In the construction of many forms of wire fences it is necessary to employ rigid braces to keep the posts in a secure upright position and it is an object of the present invention to eliminate the expense of braces and to provide a wire fence in which the posts are maintained in an upright position without the use of rigid braces.

Another object of the invention is to provide a novel form of post by means of which the bracing wires and the cattle and hog wires may be held in place without separate fastening devices.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a stay member formed of a single piece of rigid material which will space the wires apart and which also serves to keep the bracing wires from unwinding.

Another object is to provide a novel form of corner post for the structure.

In the drawings,

Figure 1 is a side view of a portion of a fence embodying my invention; y

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the same taken below the line 2 2, Fig. 1, omitting the top wire of the fence;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged Vperspective View illustrating the manner of mounting the wires on the posts, part of one post being broken out;

Fig. 4 is a longitudinal sectional view of Va portion of the stay member.

Referring to the drawings, 10 and 11 represent a pair of substantially similar fence posts which are embedded in the ground at their lower ends and consist of substantially flat sheet steel pointed at the lower end to permit driving the same into the ground. Each of the posts is provided with a series of holes 12, two in the present instance, which are located at the proper distance apart and extend through the body of the posts from face to faceV to permit the passage therethrough of the line wires 13 of the fence.

Near its upper end each of the posts has a pair of narrow slits 14, and 15 which are formed by cuts into the post from its opposite edges. Each post also has a pair of slots 16 andV 17 which extend' horizontally inwardly and then vertically downwardly into the post from the side edge thereof and above the slits 14, 15. The slots 16, 17 terminate a distance above the inner ends of the slots 14 and 15 respectively, a pair of bracing wires 18 and 19 being locked by the slots and extending Valong theupper part of the fence. Thevwires 1S and 19 are strung in the same manner and therefore the description of the manner in which one of them is fastened in place will be suflicient. Taking the wire 19, for example, a part thereof is passed into the lower slot 15 and is then bent upwardly as at 2O so that it may be passed into the slot 17 as at 2-1. The wire is then bent downwardly as at 22 and again passed into the horizontal slot 15 after which it is stretched across the space between the posts 11 and 10 where it is wound in the sameV manner into the slots 15 and 17 of the post 10. This operation is continued throughout the length of the fence line, after which the ends-vof the wire are securely fastened to the corner posts which will be described. The wire 18 is strung in the same manner as the wire 19.

When the two wires are strung in place as just described, they extend parallel to each other and in the same horizontal plane. A board or some suitable flat member is then inserted into the space between the two parallel wires and the board is turned so as to twist the two wires 18 and 19 together as at 24 and 25, which twists tension the wires so as to take up the slack therein and brace the posts, eliminating rigid` angularA braces. Intermediate the twists 24 and 25 the wires 18 and 19 will be spaced apart when the board is removed leaving the spaces 26.

In order to space the wires 13 apart at the center of the panel between each pair of posts 10 and 11 I provide a flat, narrow, metal stay member 27 which has two tongues 28 struck from the body thereof at the proper distance apart. The tongues 28 have their free ends 29 bent around the wire 13 so as to positively grip and support the wires in their spaced relation. The stay member 27 is rigid and of such a length that its upper end will extend into the space Q6 between the wires 18 and 19 and prevent them from untwisting. the wires adjacent the space 26 being held in a substantially vertical plane.

When the fence is used for inclosing hogs in a field one or more barbed wires 30 are run along the same at the bottom. These wires are strung through openings 31 in the posts at a short distance above the ground. These openings are shown to be rectangular but may be any shape to permit the barbed wire to be passed therethrough. In order to make the fence suitable for inclosing horses and cows, one or more barbed wires 32 are strung along the top of the fence through openings 33 in the posts similar to the openings 31. For the corner posts 34 of the fence I employ angle irons pointed at their lower ends and the same are driven into the ground with their angles facing out. The wires 13, 13 are secured to the eyes of screw-threaded bolts 35 which extend ,through holes 36 in the sides of the corner post and these bolts are held in place and tightened by nuts 37. Each side of the corner post has a pair of holes 38 and 39 to receive the wires 18 and 19 which pass through these holes and across the angle between the sides of the post. Both sides of the corner post are provided with openings 40 and 41 at the upper and lower ends thereof like the openings 33 and 31 to receive the barbed wires 32 and 30 which pass therthrough and across the angle between the sides.

The corner post may, if desired, be braced by angle iron braces 43 extending from the upper end of the corner post to the base of the adjacent post and riveted to the posts at both ends.

It will be seen that the fence described will be capable of withstanding a great amount of strain since the posts are securely held in an upright position by the wires which interlock them together. The posts are comparatively inexpensive to make, re-

quire no skilled labor to set them and are very durable compared with wooden fence posts. While I have shown and described the construction of the parts in detail I do not wish rto be limited to the exact forms illustrated as slight changes may be made therein without departing from the spirit of the invention.

Having thus described the invention what is claimed.

1. In a fence, the combination of a plurality .of spaced posts having pairs of slots at the opposite edges thereof, a pair of wires stretched between the posts, each wire having a loop therein extending through a pair of slots of each post to tie the stretched wires on each post, the pair of wires being twisted together a plurality of times between said posts to further stretch them, said wires being spaced apart between the twisted portions, and stay members between said posts passing through the spaces between said pair of wires to prevent untwisting thereof, each of said spaces being of greater length than the width of the stay member therein.

2. VIn a. fence, the combination of a plurality of spaced posts having pairs of slots at the edges thereof and holes in the posts for a barbed wire, a barbed wire adapted to be strung through said holes and loosely supported by the posts, and a tensioning wire stretched between and held in place on said posts by said pairs of slots, said tensioning wire hav-ing portions extending through the slots 'and between the slots and forming a. loop therein at each pair of slots to tie the tensioning wire to each post.

3. In a fence, the combination of a plurality of spaced posts having pairs of slots at the opposite edges thereof and holes in the upper and lower ends thereof, barbed wires strung through said holes and loosely supported by the posts, a pair of tensioning wires stretched between the posts and having loops therein extending through the pairs of slots in the posts to tie the tensioning` wires to each post, the pair of tensioning wires being disposed between the barbed wires and being twisted together a plurality of times between said posts to further stretch them, said tensioning wires being spaced apart between the twisted portions so that slack therein may be taken up, and stay members between said posts and barbed wires passing 4through the spaces between said tensioning wires to lprevent untwisting thereof, each of said spaces being of greater length than the -width of the stay member therein.

4. In a fence, the combination with a plurality of posts each of which has a pair of slots in the edge thereof, of a wire supported by said posts and held in place on .the posts by the slots therein, said wire having portions extending through the slots and between Athe slots and forming a loop in Vthe wire at each pair of slots to tie said wire slots, the portions extending through the 10 to each post. vertical slots and between the slots forming 5. In a fence, the combination with a a loop in the wire.

pair of posts each of which has horizontal In testimony whereof I affix my signature. 5 and vertical slots near the upper end thereof, of a wire extending between said posts, EMMA FRANCES BARNES' said wire being held in place on the posts by Witnesses: the slots therein, said wire having portions ORA LAKE,

extending through the slots and between the SAMUEL P. SUTPHEN.

opies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of :Patents Washington, D. C. 

